REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON THE PAYROLL TAX CUT
Some good framing here. It all depends on President Obama and Harry Reid not blinking. If we know anything about he future based on past experiences, it is that President Obama and Harry Reid will blink.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. It is no secret that there hasn’t been an abundance of partisanship in Washington this year. And that’s why what happened on Saturday was such a big deal.
Nearly the entire Senate — including almost all of the Republicans — voted to prevent 160 million working Americans from receiving a tax increase on January 1st. Nearly the entire Senate voted to make sure that nearly 2.5 million Americans who are out there looking for a job don’t lose their unemployment insurance in the first two months of next year. And just about everybody — Democrats and Republicans — committed to making sure that early next year we find a way to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance through the end of 2012.
But now, even though Republicans and Democrats in the Senate were willing to compromise for the good of the country, a faction of Republicans in the House are refusing to even vote on the Senate bill — a bill that cuts taxes for 160 million Americans. And because of their refusal to cooperate, all those Americans could face a tax hike in just 11 days, and millions of Americans who are out there looking for work could find their unemployment insurance expired.
Now, let’s be clear: Right now, the bipartisan compromise that was reached on Saturday is the only viable way to prevent a tax hike on January 1st. It’s the only one. All of the leaders in Congress — Democrats and Republicans — say they are committed to making sure we extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance for the entire year. And by the way, this is something I called for months ago.
The issue is, is that the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate worked on a one-year deal, made good progress, but determined that they needed more time to reach an agreement. And that’s why they passed an insurance policy — to make sure that taxes don’t go up on January 1st.
In fact, the House Republicans say they don’t dispute the need for a payroll tax cut. What they’re really trying to do, what they’re holding out for, is to wring concessions from Democrats on issues that have nothing to do with the payroll tax cut — issues where the parties fundamentally disagree. So a one-year deal is not the issue; we can and we will come to that agreement, as long as it’s focused on the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance and not focused on extraneous issues.
The issue right now is this: The clock is ticking; time is running out. And if the House Republicans refuse to vote for the Senate bill, or even allow it to come up for a vote, taxes will go up in 11 days. I saw today that one of the House Republicans referred to what they’re doing as, “high-stakes poker.” He’s right about the stakes, but this is not poker, this is not a game — this shouldn’t be politics as usual. Right now, the recovery is fragile, but it is moving in the right direction. Our failure to do this could have effects not just on families but on the economy as a whole. It’s not a game for the average family, who doesn’t have an extra 1,000 bucks to lose. It’s not a game for somebody who’s out there looking for work right now, and might lose his house if unemployment insurance doesn’t come through. It’s not a game for the millions of Americans who will take a hit when the entire economy grows more slowly because these proposals aren’t extended.
I just got back from a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, where we received the flag and the colors that our troops fought under in Iraq, and I met with some of the last men and women to return home from that war. And these Americans, and all Americans who serve, are the embodiment of courage and selflessness and patriotism, and when they fight together, and sometimes die together, they don’t know and they certainly don’t care who’s a Democrat and who’s a Republican and how somebody is doing in the polls and how this might play in the spin room. They work as a team, and they do their job. And they do it for something bigger than themselves.
The people in this town need to learn something from them. We have more important things to worry about than politics right now. We have more important things to worry about than saving face, or figuring out internal caucus politics. We have people who are counting on us to make their lives just a little bit easier, to build an economy where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded. And we owe it to them to come together right now and do the right thing. That’s what the Senate did. Democrats and Republicans in the Senate said, we’re going to put our fights on other issues aside and go ahead and do what’s right on something we all agree to. Let’s go ahead and do it. We’ll have time later for the politics; we’ll have time later to have fights around a whole bunch of other issues. Right now, though, we know this is good for the economy — and they went ahead and did the right thing.
I need the Speaker and House Republicans to do the same: Put politics aside, put aside issues where there are fundamental disagreements, and come together on something we agree on. And let’s not play brinksmanship. The American people are weary of it; they’re tired of it. They expect better. I’m calling on the Speaker and the House Republican leadership to bring up the Senate bill for a vote. Give the American people the assurance they need in this holiday season.
I can’t complain about that. And from me that’s saying a lot.
I like calling the Teabag Republicans a faction. it makes them sound radical, which they are.
‘faction’ is a good start..
how about ‘cult’?
when do RICO rules apply to the tea party legislators?
I didnt follow the senate negotiations very closely… why DID they only decide on a 2 month extension? was that a senate republican demand?
”why DID they only decide on a 2 month extension? was that a senate republican demand?”
Yea.. The GOP needed more time to wring concessions out of the Democrats… you know… the lobbyists needed more time and more money to buy a few more Dems.
TPM has a good summary, Ben.
It started as a yearlong bill, and then… you can probably guess the rest.
There is a telling last sentence in that TPM write up. Republicans are now weighing the fact that outright failure will hurt the White House more than it will hurt them. They are ready to let the thing go Ka-plooey, which always gives them more leverage than the President.
The GOP now governs by Ka-plooey – which is an impossible situation. If Dems give more concessions, Repubs win. If Dems let things go Ka-plooey, Repubs win.
Tell me how we win against this tactic?
Perhaps the issue is that for most of his Presidency, crisis levels of unemployment have been ignored to work instead on cutting social security and medicare, phony HCR, secret wars, keeping tax cuts for rich people, and running the police state.
Tell me how we win against these tactics?
“Tell me how we win against this tactic?”
We can never win if we are afraid of Ka-plooey over everything else. We’ve tried appeasement; now let’s try Ka-plooey. Because face it, with the appeasement strategy we just get Ka-plooey in slow motion anyway, with our President’s signature on it. It is hard to escape blame for policy failures when your signature is on them.
I’m betting the Repubs will blink and be shattered. But if they don’t, we can come back next year as fighting Dems, to restore economic balance, with an army of newly radicalized middle-class and unemployed voters. That’s not a bad plan B.
It is hard to win when your team is trying to kick the ball in their opponent’s goal.
I have little hope that “we can come back next year as fighting Dems.” Obama is clearly in his “let’s lie and patronize the voters” mode to win the election, but he hasn’t shown any reason to believe he’ll be better next term.
He’ll likely be worse, as most second presidential terms are worse than the first.
Nothing William F. Puckley wrote makes sense after, “with the appeasement strategy we just get Ka-plooey in slow motion anyway with our President’s signature on it. It is hard to escape blame for policy failures when your signature is on them.”
The question is, has the President finally been served up an opportunity to let things go Ka-plooey?
I don’t think he has because:
1) He is the President and he knows that all failures during his term will be chalked up as failures of leadership, and
2) he has more respect for the country and it’s institutions than the Republicans have.
This is all well and good. The one problem the president and Democrats have is that Republicans actually show up to vote. How do we get those who REALLY DO NEED TO SHOW UP AND VOTE to actually SHOW UP AND VOTE? Dems should not have gotten the shellacking they did in 2010. The problem is their base is so damn apathetic and, dare I say, lazy.
Politics is religion to the right-wing. Everyone else is just trying to get by.
Testify my brother.
I have little hope that “we can come back next year as fighting Dems.”
I admit that was a stretch.
But letting UI and the payroll tax cut expire on the Republicans dime ought to cure voters of any lingering desire for austerity, and get them to the polls.
We’re not apathetic or lazy, Mike. We showed up in record numbers in 2008. But then we found out that we had been lied to, deliberately and repeatedly. And, on top of that, his political leadership has been abysmal.
As George W. Bush said, “Fool me once, shame, shame on you….. It fooled me you can’t get fooled again.”
Or whatever.
Are you certain that the Republicans would be blamed if UI and the payroll tax cuts expire? I’m not.
Last night Republicans were on every channel saying that they wanted a year agreement; that 2 months wasn’t enough. I heard this again and again. And how many in the press pointed out that everyone started with the year extension and that the two months was a compromise? One, that I heard.
I don’t see this as a cure. I’m okay (I think) with calling their bluff, but, then again, I’m not on UI and a payroll tax won’t kill me. But if anyone thinks it’s a sure thing that people pay enough attention to blame the House GOP for this…
We are apathetic and lazy, anonone. People didn’t show up in 2006 and 2008 to vote for Democrats. They showed up in 2006 because they hated George Bush and they showed up in 2008 because they were excited about Barack Obama, a truly electrifying candidate who has proven to be quite disappointing.
I stand by my point. Republicans and conservatives will ALWAYS show up. ALWAYS. Democrats can not always be trusted to show up. We could very well lose the White House next year even though poll after poll shows the public SHOULD be voting with the Democrats on just about every issue. How. Does. That. Happen?!?
Because the Republicans have core positions that play really well generally: Low taxes. Cut regulations. Free market. Family values. You can’t disagree with those in the abstract, so the GOP becomes the default.
The Democrats, by contrast, come across like a bunch of Occupy protestors. Some of them like gay rights, some don’t. Some want higher taxes, some don’t. Then you have the tag of “liberal,” which has become an epithet.
The Republicans are really good at defining themselves. Democrats suck at it.
You’re right, of course, Mike. If everybody eligible voted (and elections were free and fair), we might even be able to elect a third party candidate. 🙂
Maybe I’ll try apathetic and lazy this year.
The Wall Street Journal, in an opinion section, is commenting the Congressional Republicans really screwed the pooch on the payroll tax cut issue.
“At this stage, Republicans would do best to cut their losses and find a way to extend the payroll holiday quickly. Then go home and return in January with a united House-Senate strategy that forces Democrats to make specific policy choices that highlight the differences between the parties on spending, taxes and regulation.”
By the way, their picture of Boehner no longer shows his normal orange facial hue.
anon @9:52am, the truly maddening thing is that we’ve known all of that for 20 years and have made zero progress on fixing it.
poll after poll shows the public SHOULD be voting with the Democrats on just about every issue. How. Does. That. Happen?!?
Because the Democratic elected officials don’t vote with the voters on every issue. Anonone was patiently trying to explain that to you. If you want to build an enthusiasm gap there is no better way.
Puck Mangione brings it full circle.
Finally, recognition!